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Norton, Virginia—Today, Sunday, June 29, 2014, St. Anthony Church welcomes home a four-foot-tall brown-skinned wooden statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz (1600-1637), the Philippines’ first saint and protomarytr.

Carved by Junior Cayanan of the famed Cayanan woodcarvers of Santa Barbara in Bacolor, Pampanga in the Philippines, the serene statue of the saint, made from santol wood, and whose two palms are folded together, holding a rosary—a fitting tribute to the saint’s devotion to the Confradia del Santissimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary)—is a gift from my family in Manila to Dr. Francis Jaynal, and his wife of 50 years, Mrs. Nilda Jaynal, whose kindest hospitality offered me a roof over my head when I had none midway my post-graduate studies at New York University.

For the both of us (the statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz and me), it has been a long arduous journey “finding home” since the past three years, peppered with divine interventions (which I’m a firm believer) that were …

When I finally got my Master’s Degree in Public Relations (PR) and Corporate Communication in May 2013 at New York University, where the first PR course was taught in the 1920s—a legacy that lured me to pursue higher education in New York—my family and friends admired me for my perseverance.

And they were spot on!

Persevering through two and a half years in graduate school with scarce resources: a partial Fulbright grant that shouldered only eight percent of my total tuition and fees; just enough private sponsorships that defrayed my living expenses; and a Philippine Peso checking account that was shrinking; was no mean feat.

But no pain, no gain, right?

I just had to keep my eyes on the prize, and finish what I started.

So when I was told the academic life story of Philippine Association of Medical Technologists’ (PAMET) pioneering president, Ismael “Mike” Jampayas, our cover subject for this …